A Model Country or a Peripheral Anomaly? The Finnish Women's Suffrage and Female MPs in Transnational Debates, 1906-19

Abstract

The introduction of women’s suffrage in 1906 and the election of the first female members to parliament made Finland an object of international attention. Contemporary cross-national comparisons were common, and there was a tendency to compete and evaluate each other. In Finland, many women activists and some male politicians, too, felt that they had to prove women’s political competence and hence actively communicated the experiences of women’s suffrage struggle internationally. Abroad, comparisons were exploited either to support women’s suffrage or to demonstrate its evil consequences, depending on party affiliation. The Finnish example encouraged suffragists in France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and women’s political activity was related by the German labour press. However, due to its lack of national sovereignty, Finland was no credible political model for many observers. Opponents of women’s suffrage questioned the ability of women to improve politics and suspected that women MPs would put male liberties to an end. Whatever the conclusions, the experiences of the pioneering countries could not be ignored whenever women’s political citizenship was debated.